Portable electronic device for instant messaging

ABSTRACT

A portable electronic device for instant messaging is disclosed. One aspect of the invention involves a graphical user interface (GUI) on a portable electronic device with a touch screen display. The GUI has a set of messages exchanged between a user of the device and another person. The set of messages are displayed in a chronological order. In response to detecting a scrolling gesture comprising a substantially vertical movement of a user contact with the touch screen display, the display of messages are scrolled in accordance with a direction of the scrolling gesture. The detecting of the scrolling gesture is substantially independent of a horizontal position of the user contact with the touch screen display.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNos. 60/937,993, “Portable Multifunction Device,” filed Jun. 29, 2007;60/946,969, “Portable Electronic Device for Instant Messaging,” filedJun. 28, 2007, 60/879,469, “Portable Multifunction Device,” filed Jan.8, 2007; 60/883,819, “Portable Electronic Device for Instant Messaging,”filed Jan. 7, 2007; 60/879,253, “Portable Multifunction Device,” filedJan. 7, 2007; and 60/824,769, “Portable Multifunction Device,” filedSep. 6, 2006. All of these applications are incorporated by referencedherein in their entirety.

This application is related to the following applications: (1) U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/188,182, “Touch Pad For Handheld Device,”filed Jul. 1, 2002; (2) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/722,948,“Touch Pad For Handheld Device,” filed Nov. 25, 2003; (3) U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/643,256, “Movable Touch Pad With AddedFunctionality,” filed Aug. 18, 2003; (4) U.S. patent application Ser.No. 10/654,108, “Ambidextrous Mouse,” filed Sep. 2, 2003; (5) U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/840,862, “Multipoint Touchscreen,” filedMay 6, 2004; (6) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/903,964, “GesturesFor Touch Sensitive Input Devices,” filed Jul. 30, 2004; (7) U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/038,590, “Mode-Based Graphical User InterfacesFor Touch Sensitive Input Devices” filed Jan. 18, 2005; (8) U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/057,050, “Display Actuator,” filed Feb. 11,2005; (9) U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/658,777,“Multi-Functional Hand-Held Device,” filed Mar. 4, 2005; and (10) U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/367,749, “Multi-Functional Hand-HeldDevice,” filed Mar. 3, 2006. All of these applications are incorporatedby reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosed embodiments relate generally to portable electronicdevices, and more particularly, to portable devices for performinginstant messaging.

BACKGROUND

As portable electronic devices become more compact, and the number offunctions performed by a given device increase, it has become asignificant challenge to design a user interface that allows users toeasily interact with a multifunction device. This challenge isparticular significant for handheld portable devices, which have muchsmaller screens than desktop or laptop computers. This situation isunfortunate because the user interface is the gateway through whichusers receive not only content but also responses to user actions orbehaviors, including user attempts to access a device's features, tools,and functions.

Some portable communication devices (e.g., mobile telephones, sometimescalled mobile phones, cell phones, cellular telephones, and the like)have resorted to adding more pushbuttons, increasing the density ofpushbuttons, overloading the functions of the pushbuttons, or usingcomplex menu systems to allow a user to access, store and manipulatedata. These conventional user interfaces often result in complicated keysequences and menu hierarchies that must be memorized by the user.

Many conventional user interfaces, such as those that include physicalpushbuttons, are also inflexible. This is unfortunate because it mayprevent a user interface from being configured and/or adapted by eitheran application running on the portable device or by users. When coupledwith the time consuming requirement to memorize multiple key sequencesand menu hierarchies, and the difficulty in activating a desiredpushbutton, such inflexibility is frustrating to most users.

Portable device-based Instant Messaging (IM) services are becomingincreasingly popular. But most IM services on portable electronicdevices have a rudimentary user interface. It is cumbersome to createinstant messages on such devices. A user often needs to press atelephone keypad repeatedly to choose a character. It is also difficultto find and view previous instant messages. For example, it isinconvenient or even impossible for the user to view a series ofprevious messages with a particular user while composing a new messagefor that user.

Accordingly, there is a need for portable multifunction devices withmore transparent and intuitive user interfaces for instant messagingthat are easy to use, configure, and/or adapt.

SUMMARY

The above deficiencies and other problems associated with userinterfaces for portable devices are reduced or eliminated by thedisclosed portable multifunction device. In some embodiments, the devicehas a touch-sensitive display (also known as a touch screen or a touchscreen display) with a graphical user interface (GUI), one or moreprocessors, memory and one or more modules, programs or sets ofinstructions stored in the memory for performing multiple functions. Insome embodiments, the user interacts with the GUI primarily throughfinger contacts and gestures on the touch screen display. Instructionsfor performing instant messaging operations may be included in acomputer program product configured for execution by one or moreprocessors.

One aspect of the invention involves a computer-implemented method inwhich a portable electronic device with a touch screen display: displaysa set of messages exchanged between a user of the device and anotherperson in a chronological order; detects a scrolling gesture comprisinga substantially vertical movement of a user contact with the touchscreen display, wherein the detecting of the scrolling gesture issubstantially independent of a horizontal position of the user contactwith the touch screen display; and responds to the scrolling gesture byscrolling the display of messages in accordance with a direction of thescrolling gesture.

Another aspect of the invention involves a computer-implemented methodin which a portable electronic device with a touch screen display:displays a list of conversations, each conversation including a set ofmessages exchanged between a user of the device and a respective otherperson; detects a scrolling gesture comprising a substantially verticalmovement of a user contact with the touch screen display; and respondsto the scrolling gesture by scrolling the list of conversations inaccordance with a direction of the scrolling gesture, wherein thescrolling gesture is substantially independent of a horizontal positionof the user contact with the touch screen display.

Another aspect of the invention involves a portable electronic device.The device includes a touch screen display, one or more processors,memory, and one or more programs. The one or more program are stored inthe memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors.The one or more programs include: instructions for displaying a set ofmessages exchanged between a user of the device and another person in achronological order; instructions for detecting a scrolling gesturecomprising a substantially vertical movement of a user contact with thetouch screen display, wherein the detecting of the scrolling gesture issubstantially independent of a horizontal position of the user contactwith the touch screen display; and instructions for responding to thescrolling gesture by scrolling the display of messages in accordancewith a direction of the scrolling gesture.

Another aspect of the invention involves a portable electronic device.The device includes a touch screen display, one or more processors,memory, and one or more programs. The one or more program are stored inthe memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors.The one or more programs include: instructions for displaying a list ofconversations, each conversation including a set of messages exchangedbetween a user of the device and a respective other person; instructionsfor detecting a scrolling gesture comprising a substantially verticalmovement of a user contact with the touch screen display; andinstructions for responding to the scrolling gesture by scrolling thelist of conversations in accordance with a direction of the scrollinggesture, wherein the scrolling gesture is substantially independent of ahorizontal position of the user contact with the touch screen display.

Another aspect of the invention involves a computer-program product thatincludes a computer readable storage medium and a computer programmechanism embedded therein. The computer program mechanism includesinstructions, which when executed by a portable electronic device with atouch screen display, cause the device to: display a set of messagesexchanged between a user of the device and another person in achronological order; detect a scrolling gesture comprising asubstantially vertical movement of a user contact with the touch screendisplay, wherein the detecting of the scrolling gesture is substantiallyindependent of a horizontal position of the user contact with the touchscreen display; and respond to the scrolling gesture by scrolling thedisplay of messages in accordance with a direction of the scrollinggesture.

Another aspect of the invention involves a computer-program product thatincludes a computer readable storage medium and a computer programmechanism embedded therein. The computer program mechanism includesinstructions, which when executed by a portable electronic device with atouch screen display, cause the device to: display a list ofconversations, each including a set of messages exchanged between a userof the device and a respective other person; detect a scrolling gesturecomprising a substantially vertical movement of a user contact with thetouch screen display; and respond to the scrolling gesture by scrollingthe list of conversations in accordance with a direction of thescrolling gesture, wherein the scrolling gesture is substantiallyindependent of a horizontal position of the user contact with the touchscreen display.

Another aspect of the invention involves a graphical user interface(GUI) on a portable electronic device with a touch screen display. TheGUI has a set of messages exchanged between a user of the device andanother person. The set of messages are displayed in a chronologicalorder. In response to detecting a scrolling gesture comprising asubstantially vertical movement of a user contact with the touch screendisplay, wherein the detecting of the scrolling gesture is substantiallyindependent of a horizontal position of the user contact with the touchscreen display, the display of messages are scrolled in accordance witha direction of the scrolling gesture.

Another aspect of the invention involves a graphical user interface(GUI) on a portable electronic device with a touch screen display. TheGUI has a list of conversations, each conversation including a set ofmessages exchanged between a user of the device and a respective otherperson. In response to detecting a scrolling gesture comprising asubstantially vertical movement of a user contact with the touch screendisplay, the list of conversations is scrolled in accordance with adirection of the scrolling gesture. The scrolling gesture issubstantially independent of a horizontal position of the user contactwith the touch screen display.

Another aspect of the invention involves a portable electronic devicewith a touch screen display, comprising: means for displaying a set ofmessages exchanged between a user of the device and another person in achronological order; means for detecting a scrolling gesture comprisinga substantially vertical movement of user contact with the touch screendisplay, wherein the detecting of the scrolling gesture is substantiallyindependent of a horizontal position of the user contact with the touchscreen display; and means for responding to the scrolling gesture byscrolling the display of messages in accordance with a direction of thescrolling gesture.

Another aspect of the invention involves a portable electronic devicewith a touch screen display, comprising: means for displaying a list ofconversations, each conversation including a set of messages exchangedbetween a user of the device and a respective other person; means fordetecting a scrolling gesture comprising a substantially verticalmovement of user contact with the touch screen display; and means forresponding to the scrolling gesture by scrolling the list ofconversations in accordance with a direction of the scrolling gesture,wherein the scrolling gesture is substantially independent of ahorizontal position of the user contact with the touch screen display.

Another aspect of the invention involves a computer-implemented methodin which a portable electronic device with a touch screen displaydisplays a set of messages exchanged between a user of the device andanother person in a chronological order. The messages sent by the otherperson include a first message sent from a first address associated withthe other person and a second message sent from a second addressassociated with the other person that is different from the firstaddress.

Another aspect of the invention involves a portable electronic device.The device includes a touch screen display, one or more processors,memory, and one or more programs. The one or more program are stored inthe memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors.The one or more programs include instructions for displaying a set ofmessages exchanged between a user of the device and another person in achronological order. The messages sent by the other person include afirst message sent from a first address associated with the other personand a second message sent from a second address associated with theother person that is different from the first address.

Another aspect of the invention involves a computer-program product thatincludes a computer readable storage medium and a computer programmechanism embedded therein. The computer program mechanism includesinstructions, which when executed by a portable electronic device with atouch screen display, cause the device to display a set of messagesexchanged between a user of the device and another person in achronological order. The messages sent by the other person include afirst message sent from a first address associated with the other personand a second message sent from a second address associated with theother person that is different from the first address.

Another aspect of the invention involves a graphical user interface(GUI) on a portable electronic device with a touch screen display. TheGUI has a set of messages exchanged between a user of the device andanother person in a chronological order. The messages sent by the otherperson include a first message sent from a first address associated withthe other person and a second message sent from a second addressassociated with the other person that is different from the firstaddress.

Another aspect of the invention involves a portable electronic devicewith a touch screen display, comprising means for displaying a set ofmessages exchanged between a user of the device and another person in achronological order. The messages sent by the other person include afirst message sent from a first address associated with the other personand a second message sent from a second address associated with theother person that is different from the first address.

Thus, the invention provides a transparent and intuitive user interfacefor creating, viewing, and finding instant message conversations on aportable electronic device with a touch screen display.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the aforementioned embodiments of theinvention as well as additional embodiments thereof, reference should bemade to the Description of Embodiments below, in conjunction with thefollowing drawings in which like reference numerals refer tocorresponding parts throughout the figures.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a portable electronic device witha touch-sensitive display in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a portable electronic device having a touch screen inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary user interface for unlocking a portableelectronic device in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary user interface for a menu ofapplications on a portable electronic device in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary user interface for listing instantmessage conversations on a portable electronic device in accordance withsome embodiments.

FIGS. 6A through 6K illustrate an exemplary user interface for inputtingtext for an instant message in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary user interface for deleting an instantmessage conversation in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 8A & 8B illustrate an exemplary user interface for a contact listin accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary user interface for entering a phonenumber for instant messaging in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a process for displaying a list ofinstant message conversations on a portable electronic device's touchscreen in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a process for displaying a userselected instant message conversation upon detecting a predefined usercontact with the portable electronic device's touch screen in accordancewith some embodiments.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a process for displaying auser-entered character and word suggestions, if any, in accordance withsome embodiments.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a process for displaying respectivekeyboards upon detecting a user contact with a keyboard selection iconin accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a process for interpreting themeaning of a particular user contact with the shift key in accordancewith some embodiments.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a process for sending an instantmessage to a respective recipient in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a process for displaying a list ofinstant message conversations for editing in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a process for editing a userselected instant message conversation in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating a process for removing a userselected instant message conversation or exiting a conversation editmode in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a process for displaying a list ofcontacts from which a user chooses to send an instant message inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating a process for launching a newconversation using a new phone number in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 21 illustrates an exemplary user interface for alerting a user to anew instant message in accordance with some embodiments.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of whichare illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following detaileddescription, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will beapparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the present inventionmay be practiced without these specific details. In other instances,well-known methods, procedures, components, circuits, and networks havenot been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspectsof the embodiments.

Embodiments of a portable electronic device, user interfaces for suchdevices, and associated processes for using such devices are described.In some embodiments, the device is a portable communications device suchas a mobile telephone that also contains other functions, such as PDAand/or music player functions.

The user interface may include a physical click wheel in addition to atouch screen or a virtual click wheel displayed on the touch screen. Aclick wheel is a user-interface device that may provide navigationcommands based on an angular displacement of the wheel or a point ofcontact with the wheel by a user of the device. A click wheel may alsobe used to provide a user command corresponding to selection of one ormore items, for example, when the user of the device presses down on atleast a portion of the wheel or the center of the wheel. Alternatively,breaking contact with a click wheel image on a touch screen surface mayindicate a user command corresponding to selection. For simplicity, inthe discussion that follows, a portable electronic device that includesa touch screen is used as an exemplary embodiment. It should beunderstood, however, that some of the user interfaces and associatedprocesses may be applied to other devices, such as personal computersand laptop computers, which may include one or more other physicaluser-interface devices, such as a physical click wheel, a physicalkeyboard, a mouse and/or a joystick.

In addition to instant messaging, the device may support a variety ofother applications, such as a telephone application, a videoconferencing application, an e-mail application, a blogging application,a digital camera application, a digital video camera application, a webbrowsing application, a digital music player application, and/or adigital video player application.

The various applications that may be executed on the device may use atleast one common physical user-interface device, such as the touchscreen. One or more functions of the touch screen as well ascorresponding information displayed on the device may be adjusted and/orvaried from one application to the next and/or within a respectiveapplication. In this way, a common physical architecture (such as thetouch screen) of the device may support the variety of applications withuser interfaces that are intuitive and transparent.

The user interfaces may include one or more soft keyboard embodiments.The soft keyboard embodiments may include standard (QWERTY) and/ornon-standard configurations of symbols on the displayed icons of thekeyboard, such as those described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/459,606, “Keyboards For Portable Electronic Devices,” filed Jul. 24,2006, and Ser. No. 11/459,615, “Touch Screen Keyboards For PortableElectronic Devices,” filed Jul. 24, 2006, the contents of which arehereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. The keyboardembodiments may include a reduced number of icons (or soft keys)relative to the number of keys in existing physical keyboards, such asthat for a typewriter. This may make it easier for users to select oneor more icons in the keyboard, and thus, one or more correspondingsymbols. The keyboard embodiments may be adaptive. For example,displayed icons may be modified in accordance with user actions, such asselecting one or more icons and/or one or more corresponding symbols.One or more applications on the portable electronic device may utilizecommon and/or different keyboard embodiments. Thus, the keyboardembodiment used may be tailored to at least some of the applications. Insome embodiments, one or more keyboard embodiments may be tailored to arespective user. For example, based on a word usage history(lexicography, slang, individual usage) of the respective user. Some ofthe keyboard embodiments may be adjusted to reduce a probability of auser error when selecting one or more icons, and thus one or moresymbols, when using the soft keyboard embodiments.

Attention is now directed towards embodiments of the device. FIG. 1 is ablock diagram illustrating a portable electronic device 100 with atouch-sensitive display 112 in accordance with some embodiments. Thetouch-sensitive display 112 is sometimes called a “touch screen” forconvenience. The device 100 may include a memory 102 (which may includeone or more computer readable storage mediums), a memory controller 122,one or more processing units (CPU's) 120, a peripherals interface 118,RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110, a speaker 111, a microphone 113,an input/output (I/O) subsystem 106, other input or control devices 116,and an external port 124. The device 100 may include one or more opticalsensors 164. These components may communicate over one or morecommunication buses or signal lines 103.

It should be appreciated that the device 100 is only one example of aportable electronic device 100, and that the device 100 may have more orfewer components than shown, may combine two or more components, or amay have a different configuration or arrangement of the components. Thevarious components shown in FIG. 1 may be implemented in hardware,software or a combination of hardware and software, including one ormore signal processing and/or application specific integrated circuits.

Memory 102 may include high-speed random access memory and may alsoinclude non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storagedevices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-state memorydevices. Access to memory 102 by other components of the device 100,such as the CPU 120 and the peripherals interface 118, may be controlledby the memory controller 122.

The peripherals interface 118 couples the input and output peripheralsof the device to the CPU 120 and memory 102. The one or more processors120 run or execute various software programs and/or sets of instructionsstored in memory 102 to perform various functions for the device 100 andto process data.

In some embodiments, the peripherals interface 118, the CPU 120, and thememory controller 122 may be implemented on a single chip, such as achip 104. In some other embodiments, they may be implemented on separatechips.

The RF (radio frequency) circuitry 108 receives and sends RF signals,also called electromagnetic signals. The RF circuitry 108 convertselectrical signals to/from electromagnetic signals and communicates withcommunications networks and other communications devices via theelectromagnetic signals. The RF circuitry 108 may include well-knowncircuitry for performing these functions, including but not limited toan antenna system, an RF transceiver, one or more amplifiers, a tuner,one or more oscillators, a digital signal processor, a CODEC chipset, asubscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory, and so forth. The RFcircuitry 108 may communicate with networks, such as the Internet, alsoreferred to as the World Wide Web (WWW), an intranet and/or a wirelessnetwork, such as a cellular telephone network, a wireless local areanetwork (LAN) and/or a metropolitan area network (MAN), and otherdevices by wireless communication. The wireless communication may useany of a plurality of communications standards, protocols andtechnologies, including but not limited to Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), high-speeddownlink packet access (HSDPA), wideband code division multiple access(W-CDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multipleaccess (TDMA), Bluetooth, Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) (e.g., IEEE 802.11a,IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g and/or IEEE 802.11n), voice over InternetProtocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, a protocol for email (e.g., Internet MessageAccess Protocol (IMAP) and/or Post Office Protocol (POP)), instantmessaging (e.g., eXtensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP),Session Initiation Protocol for Instant Messaging and PresenceLeveraging Extensions (SIMPLE), and/or Instant Messaging and PresenceService (IMPS)), and/or Short Message Service (SMS), or any othersuitable communication protocol, including communication protocols notyet developed as of the filing date of this document.

The audio circuitry 110, the speaker 111, and the microphone 113 providean audio interface between a user and the device 100. The audiocircuitry 110 receives audio data from the peripherals interface 118,converts the audio data to an electrical signal, and transmits theelectrical signal to the speaker 111. The speaker 111 converts theelectrical signal to human-audible sound waves. The audio circuitry 110also receives electrical signals converted by the microphone 113 fromsound waves. The audio circuitry 110 converts the electrical signal toaudio data and transmits the audio data to the peripherals interface 118for processing. Audio data may be retrieved from and/or transmitted tomemory 102 and/or the RF circuitry 108 by the peripherals interface 118.In some embodiments, the audio circuitry 110 also includes a headsetjack (not shown). The headset jack provides an interface between theaudio circuitry 110 and removable audio input/output peripherals, suchas output-only headphones or a headset with both output (e.g., aheadphone for one or both ears) and input (e.g., a microphone).

The I/O subsystem 106 couples input/output peripherals on the device100, such as the touch screen 112 and other input/control devices 116,to the peripherals interface 118. The I/O subsystem 106 may include adisplay controller 156 and one or more input controllers 160 for otherinput or control devices. The one or more input controllers 160receive/send electrical signals from/to other input or control devices116. The other input/control devices 116 may include physical buttons(e.g., push buttons, rocker buttons, etc.), dials, slider switches,joysticks, click wheels, and so forth. In some alternate embodiments,input controller(s) 160 may be coupled to any (or none) of thefollowing: a keyboard, infrared port, USB port, and a pointer devicesuch as a mouse. The one or more buttons (e.g., 208, FIG. 2) may includean up/down button for volume control of the speaker 111 and/or themicrophone 113. The one or more buttons may include a push button (e.g.,206, FIG. 2). A quick press of the push button may disengage a lock ofthe touch screen 112 or begin a process that uses gestures on the touchscreen to unlock the device, as described in U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/322,549 (Unlocking a Device by Performing Gestures on anUnlock Image, filed Dec. 23, 2005), which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety. A longer press of the push button (e.g., 206)may turn power to the device 100 on or off. The user may be able tocustomize a functionality of one or more of the buttons. The touchscreen 112 is used to implement virtual or soft buttons and one or moresoft keyboards.

The touch-sensitive touch screen 112 provides an input interface and anoutput interface between the device and a user. The display controller156 receives and/or sends electrical signals from/to the touch screen112. The touch screen 112 displays visual output to the user. The visualoutput may include graphics, text, icons, video, and any combinationthereof (collectively termed “graphics”). In some embodiments, some orall of the visual output may correspond to user-interface objects,further details of which are described below.

A touch screen 112 has a touch-sensitive surface, sensor, or set ofsensors that accepts input from the user based on haptic and/or tactilecontact. The touch screen 112 and the display controller 156 (along withany associated modules and/or sets of instructions in memory 102) detectcontact (and any movement or breaking of the contact) on the touchscreen 112 and converts the detected contact into interaction withuser-interface objects (e.g., one or more soft keys, icons, web pages orimages) that are displayed on the touch screen. In an exemplaryembodiment, a point of contact between a touch screen 112 and the usercorresponds to a finger of the user.

The touch screen 112 may use LCD (liquid crystal display) technology, orLPD (light emitting polymer display) technology, although other displaytechnologies may be used in other embodiments. The touch screen 112 andthe display controller 156 may detect contact and any movement orbreaking thereof using any of a plurality of touch sensing technologiesnow known or later developed, including but not limited to capacitive,resistive, infrared, and surface acoustic wave technologies, as well asother proximity sensor arrays or other elements for determining one ormore points of contact with a touch screen 112. A touch-sensitivedisplay in some embodiments of the touch screen 112 may be analogous tothe multi-touch sensitive tablets described in the following U.S. Pat.No. 6,323,846 (Westerman et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,570,557 (Westerman etal.), and/or U.S. Pat. No. 6,677,932 (Westerman), and/or U.S. PatentPublication 2002/0015024A1, each of which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety. However, a touch screen 112 displays visualoutput from the portable device 100, whereas touch sensitive tablets donot provide visual output. The touch screen 112 may have a resolution inexcess of 100 dpi. In an exemplary embodiment, the touch screen in thedisplay system has a resolution of approximately 168 dpi. The user maymake contact with the touch screen 112 using any suitable object orappendage, such as a stylus, a finger, and so forth. In someembodiments, the user interface is designed to work primarily withfinger-based contacts and gestures, which are much less precise thanstylus-based input due to the larger area of contact of a finger on thetouch screen. In some embodiments, the device translates the roughfinger-based input into a precise pointer/cursor position or command forperforming the actions desired by the user.

A touch-sensitive display in some embodiments of the touch screen 112may be as described in the following applications: (1) U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/381,313, “Multipoint Touch Surface Controller,”filed on May 2, 2006; (2) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/840,862,“Multipoint Touchscreen,” filed on May 6, 2004; (3) U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/903,964, “Gestures For Touch Sensitive InputDevices,” filed on Jul. 30, 2004; (4) U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/048,264, “Gestures For Touch Sensitive Input Devices,” filed on Jan.31, 2005; (5) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/038,590, “Mode-BasedGraphical User Interfaces For Touch Sensitive Input Devices,” filed onJan. 18, 2005; (6) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/228,758, “VirtualInput Device Placement On A Touch Screen User Interface,” filed on Sep.16, 2005; (7) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/228,700, “Operation OfA Computer With A Touch Screen Interface,” filed on Sep. 16, 2005; (8)U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/228,737, “Activating Virtual Keys OfA Touch-Screen Virtual Keyboard,” filed on Sep. 16, 2005; and (9) U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/367,749, “Multi-Functional Hand-HeldDevice,” filed on Mar. 3, 2006. All of these applications areincorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

In some embodiments, in addition to the touch screen, the device 100 mayinclude a touchpad (not shown) for activating or deactivating particularfunctions. In some embodiments, the touchpad is a touch-sensitive areaof the device that, unlike the touch screen, does not display visualoutput. The touchpad may be a touch-sensitive surface that is separatefrom the touch screen 112 or an extension of the touch-sensitive surfaceformed by the touch screen.

In some embodiments, the device 100 may include a physical or virtualclick wheel as an input control device 116. A user may navigate amongand interact with one or more graphical objects (henceforth referred toas icons) displayed in the touch screen 112 by rotating the click wheelor by moving a point of contact with the click wheel (e.g., where theamount of movement of the point of contact is measured by its angulardisplacement with respect to a center point of the click wheel). Theclick wheel may also be used to select one or more of the displayedicons. For example, the user may press down on at least a portion of theclick wheel or an associated button. User commands and navigationcommands provided by the user via the click wheel may be processed by aninput controller 160 as well as one or more of the modules and/or setsof instructions in memory 102. For a virtual click wheel, the clickwheel and click wheel controller may be part of the touch screen 112 andthe display controller 156, respectively. For a virtual click wheel, theclick wheel may be either an opaque or semitransparent object thatappears and disappears on the touch screen display in response to userinteraction with the device. In some embodiments, a virtual click wheelis displayed on the touch screen of a portable multifunction device andoperated by user contact with the touch screen.

The device 100 also includes a power system 162 for powering the variouscomponents. The power system 162 may include a power management system,one or more power sources (e.g., battery, alternating current (AC)), arecharging system, a power failure detection circuit, a power converteror inverter, a power status indicator (e.g., a light-emitting diode(LED)) and any other components associated with the generation,management and distribution of power in portable electronic devices.

The device 100 may also include one or more optical sensors 164. FIG. 1shows an optical sensor coupled to an optical sensor controller 158 inI/O subsystem 106. The optical sensor 164 may include charge-coupleddevice (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS)phototransistors. The optical sensor 164 receives light from theenvironment, projected through one or more lens, and converts the lightto data representing an image. In conjunction with an imaging module143, the optical sensor 164 may capture still images or video. In someembodiments, an optical sensor is located on the back of the device 100,opposite the touch screen display 112 on the front of the device, sothat the touch screen display may be used as a viewfinder for eitherstill and/or video image acquisition. In some embodiments, an opticalsensor is located on the front of the device so that the user's imagemay be obtained for videoconferencing while the user views the othervideo conference participants on the touch screen display. In someembodiments, the position of the optical sensor 164 can be changed bythe user (e.g., by rotating the lens and the sensor in the devicehousing) so that a single optical sensor 164 may be used along with thetouch screen display for both video conferencing and still and/or videoimage acquisition.

The device 100 may also include one or more proximity sensors 166. FIG.1 shows a proximity sensor 166 coupled to the peripherals interface 118.Alternately, the proximity sensor 166 may be coupled to an inputcontroller 160 in the I/O subsystem 106. The proximity sensor 166 mayperform as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/241,839,“Proximity Detector In Handheld Device, filed Sep. 30, 2005, and Ser.No. 11/240,788, “Proximity Detector In Handheld Device,” filed Sep. 30,2005, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. Insome embodiments, the proximity sensor turns off and disables the touchscreen 112 when the multifunction device is placed near the user's ear(e.g., when the user is making a phone call). In some embodiments, theproximity sensor keeps the screen off when the device is in the user'spocket, purse, or other dark area to prevent unnecessary batterydrainage when the device is a locked state.

The device 100 may also include one or more accelerometers 168. FIG. 1shows an accelerometer 168 coupled to the peripherals interface 118.Alternately, the accelerometer 168 may be coupled to an input controller160 in the I/O subsystem 106. The accelerometer 168 may perform asdescribed in U.S. Patent Publication No. 20050190059,“Acceleration-based Theft Detection System for Portable ElectronicDevices,” and U.S. Patent Publication No. 20060017692, “Methods AndApparatuses For Operating A Portable Device Based On An Accelerometer,”both of which are which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentirety. In some embodiments, information is displayed on the touchscreen display in a portrait view or a landscape view based on ananalysis of data received from the one or more accelerometers.

In some embodiments, the software components stored in memory 102 mayinclude an operating system 126, a communication module (or set ofinstructions) 128, a contact/motion module (or set of instructions) 130,a graphics module (or set of instructions) 132, a text input module (orset of instructions) 134, a Global Positioning System (GPS) module (orset of instructions) 135, and applications (or set of instructions) 136.

The operating system 126 (e.g., Darwin, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, OS X,WINDOWS, or an embedded operating system such as VxWorks) includesvarious software components and/or drivers for controlling and managinggeneral system tasks (e.g., memory management, storage device control,power management, etc.) and facilitates communication between varioushardware and software components.

The communication module 128 facilitates communication with otherdevices over one or more external ports 124 and also includes varioussoftware components for handling data received by the RF circuitry 108and/or the external port 124. The external port 124 (e.g., UniversalSerial Bus (USB), FIREWIRE, etc.) is adapted for coupling directly toother devices or indirectly over a network (e.g., the Internet, wirelessLAN, etc.). In some embodiments, the external port is a multi-pin (e.g.,30-pin) connector that is the same as, or similar to and/or compatiblewith the 30-pin connector used on iPod (trademark of Apple Computer,Inc.) devices.

The contact/motion module 130 may detect contact with the touch screen112 (in conjunction with the display controller 156) and other touchsensitive devices (e.g., a touchpad or physical click wheel). Thecontact/motion module 130 includes various software components forperforming various operations related to detection of contact, such asdetermining if contact has occurred, determining if there is movement ofthe contact and tracking the movement across the touch screen 112, anddetermining if the contact has been broken (i.e., if the contact hasceased). Determining movement of the point of contact may includedetermining speed (magnitude), velocity (magnitude and direction),and/or an acceleration (a change in magnitude and/or direction) of thepoint of contact. These operations may be applied to single contacts(e.g., one finger contacts) or to multiple simultaneous contacts (e.g.,“multitouch”/multiple finger contacts). In some embodiments, thecontact/motion module 130 and the display controller 156 also detectscontact on a touchpad. In some embodiments, the contact/motion module130 and the controller 160 detects contact on a click wheel 116.

The graphics module 132 includes various known software components forrendering and displaying graphics on the touch screen 112, includingcomponents for changing the intensity of graphics that are displayed. Asused herein, the term “graphics” includes any object that can bedisplayed to a user, including without limitation text, web pages, icons(such as user-interface objects including soft keys), digital images,videos, animations and the like.

The text input module 134, which may be a component of graphics module132, provides soft keyboards for entering text in various applications(e.g., contacts 137, e-mail 140, IM 141, blogging 142, browser 147, andany other application that needs text input).

The GPS module 135 determines the location of the device and providesthis information for use in various applications (e.g., to telephone 138for use in location-based dialing, to camera 143 and/or blogger 142 aspicture/video metadata, and to applications that provide location-basedservices such as weather widgets, local yellow page widgets, andmap/navigation widgets).

The applications 136 may include the following modules (or sets ofinstructions), or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   a contacts module 137 (sometimes called an address book or        contact list);    -   a telephone module 138;    -   a video conferencing module 139;    -   an e-mail client module 140;    -   an instant messaging (IM) module 141;    -   a blogging module 142;    -   a camera module 143 for still and/or video images;    -   an image management module 144;    -   a video player module 145;    -   a music player module 146;    -   a browser module 147;    -   a calendar module 148;    -   widget modules 149, which may include weather widget 149-1,        stocks widget 149-2, calculator widget 149-3, alarm clock widget        149-4, dictionary widget 149-5, and other widgets obtained by        the user, as well as user-created widgets 149-6;    -   widget creator module 150 for making user-created widgets 149-6;        and/or    -   search module 151.

Examples of other applications 136 that may be stored in memory 102include memo pad and other word processing applications, JAVA-enabledapplications, encryption, digital rights management, voice recognition,and voice replication.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, displaycontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text inputmodule 134, the instant messaging module 141 may be used to enter asequence of characters corresponding to an instant message, to modifypreviously entered characters, to transmit a respective instant message(for example, using a Short Message Service (SMS) or Multimedia MessageService (MMS) protocol for telephony-based instant messages or usingXMPP, SIMPLE, or IMPS for Internet-based instant messages), to receiveinstant messages and to view an IM conversation including messagesexchanged between a user of the portable device 100 and a respectiveother person. In some embodiments, transmitted and/or received instantmessages may include graphics, photos, audio files, video files and/orother attachments as are supported in a MMS and/or an Enhanced MessagingService (EMS). As used herein, “instant messaging” refers to bothtelephony-based messages (e.g., messages sent using SMS or MMS) andInternet-based messages (e.g., message sent using XMPP, SIMPLE, orIMPS). Embodiments of user interfaces and associated processes usinginstant messaging module 141 are described further below.

Note that the above identified modules and applications (including theinstant messaging module 141) correspond to a set of instructions forperforming one or more functions described above. These modules (i.e.,sets of instructions) need not be implemented as separate softwareprograms, procedures or modules, and thus various subsets of thesemodules may be combined or otherwise re-arranged in various embodiments.In some embodiments, memory 102 may store a subset of the modules anddata structures identified above. Furthermore, memory 102 may storeadditional modules and data structures not described above.

In some embodiments, the device 100 is a device where operation of apredefined set of functions on the device is performed exclusivelythrough a touch screen 112 and/or a touchpad. By using a touch screenand/or a touchpad as the primary input/control device for operation ofthe device 100, the number of physical input/control devices (such aspushbuttons, dials, and the like) on the device 100 may be reduced.

The predefined set of functions that may be performed exclusivelythrough a touch screen and/or a touchpad include navigation between userinterfaces. In some embodiments, the touchpad, when touched by the user,navigates the device 100 to a main, home, or root menu from any userinterface that may be displayed on the device 100. In such embodiments,the touchpad may be referred to as a “menu button.” In some otherembodiments, the menu button may be a physical push button or otherphysical input/control device instead of a touchpad.

FIG. 2 illustrates a portable electronic device 100 having a touchscreen 112 in accordance with some embodiments. The touch screen maydisplay one or more graphics. In this embodiment, as well as othersdescribed below, a user may select one or more of the graphics by makingcontact or touching the graphics, for example, with one or more fingers202 (not drawn to scale in the figure) or a stylus (not shown in thefigure). In some embodiments, selection of one or more graphics occurswhen the user breaks contact with the one or more graphics. In someembodiments, the contact may include a gesture, such as one or moretaps, one or more swipes (from left to right, right to left, upwardand/or downward and/or a rolling of a finger (from right to left, leftto right, upward and/or downward) that has made contact with the device100. In some embodiments, inadvertent contact with a graphic may notselect the graphic. For example, a swipe gesture that sweeps over anapplication icon may not select the corresponding application when thegesture corresponding to selection is a tap. In other words, theportable electronic device 100 interprets the meaning of a gesture andacts accordingly after considering which application or module is in useat the moment.

The device 100 may also include one or more physical buttons, such as“home” or menu button 204. As described previously, the menu button 204may be used to navigate to any application 136 in a set of applicationsthat may be executed on the device 100. Alternatively, in someembodiments, the menu button is implemented as a soft key in a GUI intouch screen 112.

In one embodiment, the device 100 includes a touch screen 112, a menubutton 204, a push button 206 for powering the device on/off and lockingthe device, and volume adjustment button(s) 208. The push button 206 maybe used to turn the power on/off on the device by depressing the buttonand holding the button in the depressed state for a predefined timeinterval; to lock the device by depressing the button and releasing thebutton before the predefined time interval has elapsed; and/or to unlockthe device or initiate an unlock process. In an alternative embodiment,the device 100 also may accept verbal input for activation ordeactivation of some functions through the microphone 113.

Attention is now directed towards embodiments of user interfaces (“UI”)and associated processes that may be implemented on a portableelectronic device 100.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary user interface for unlocking a portableelectronic device in accordance with some embodiments. In someembodiments, user interface 300 includes the following elements, or asubset or superset thereof:

-   -   Unlock image 302 that is moved with a finger gesture to unlock        the device;    -   Arrow 304 that provides a visual cue to the unlock gesture;    -   Channel 306 that provides additional cues to the unlock gesture;    -   Time 308;    -   Day 310;    -   Date 312; and    -   Wallpaper image 314.

In some embodiments, the device detects contact with the touch-sensitivedisplay (e.g., a user's finger making contact on or near the unlockimage 302) while the device is in a user-interface lock state. Thedevice moves the unlock image 302 in accordance with the contact. Thedevice transitions to a user-interface unlock state if the detectedcontact corresponds to a predefined gesture, such as moving the unlockimage across channel 306. Conversely, the device maintains theuser-interface lock state if the detected contact does not correspond tothe predefined gesture. As noted above, processes that use gestures onthe touch screen to unlock the device are described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/322,549, “Unlocking a Device by PerformingGestures on an Unlock Image,” filed Dec. 23, 2005, which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary user interface for a menu ofapplications on a portable electronic device in accordance with someembodiments. In some embodiments, user interface 400 includes thefollowing elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   Signal strength indicator 402 for wireless communication;    -   Time 404;    -   Battery status indicator 406;    -   Tray 408 with icons for frequently used applications, such as:        -   Phone 138;        -   E-mail client 140, which may include an indicator 410 of the            number of unread e-mails;        -   Browser 147; and        -   Music player 146; and    -   Icons for other applications, such as:        -   IM 141;        -   Image management 144;        -   Camera 143;        -   Video player 145;        -   Weather 149-1;        -   Stocks 149-2;        -   Blog 142;        -   Calendar 148;        -   Calculator 149-3;        -   Alarm clock 149-4;        -   Dictionary 149-5; and        -   User-created widget 149-6.

In some embodiments, UI 400 displays all of the available applications136 on one screen so that there is no need to scroll through a list ofapplications (e.g., via a scroll bar). In some embodiments, as thenumber of applications increase, the icons corresponding to theapplications may decrease in size so that all applications may bedisplayed on a single screen without scrolling. In some embodiments,having all applications on one screen and a menu button enables a userto access any desired application with at most two inputs, such asactivating the menu button 204 and then activating the desiredapplication (e.g., by a tap or other finger gesture on the iconcorresponding to the application).

In some embodiments, UI 400 provides integrated access to bothwidget-based applications and non-widget-based applications. In someembodiments, all of the widgets, whether user-created or not, aredisplayed in UI 400. In other embodiments, activating the icon foruser-created widget 149-6 may lead to another UI (not shown) thatcontains the user-created widgets or icons corresponding to theuser-created widgets.

In some embodiments, a user may rearrange the icons in UI 400, e.g.,using processes described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/459,602, “Portable Electronic Device With Interface ReconfigurationMode,” filed Jul. 24, 2006, which is hereby incorporated by reference inits entirety. For example, a user may move application icons in and outof tray 408 using finger gestures.

In some embodiments, UI 400 includes a gauge (not shown) that displaysan updated account usage metric for an account associated with usage ofthe device (e.g., a cellular phone account), as described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/322,552, “Account Information Display ForPortable Communication Device,” filed Dec. 23, 2005, which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary user interface for listing instantmessage conversations on a portable electronic device in accordance withsome embodiments. An instant message conversation includes a set ofmessages exchanged between a user of the portable electronic device andone or more other persons. In some embodiments, user interface 500includes the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   402, 404, and 406, as described above;    -   “Instant Messages” or other similar label 502:    -   Names 504 of the persons a user has instant message        conversations with (e.g., Jane Doe 504-1) or the phone number if        the corresponding person's name is not available (e.g.,        408-123-4567 504-3);    -   Text 506 of the last message or a portion thereof in the        conversation (note that the last message could be the last one        either sent or received by the user);    -   Date 508 and/or time of the last message in the conversation;    -   Selection icon 510 that when activated (e.g., by a finger        gesture on the icon) initiates transition to a UI for the        corresponding conversation (e.g., FIG. 6A for Jane Doe 504-1);    -   Edit icon 512 that when activated (e.g., by a finger gesture on        the icon) initiates transition to a UI for deleting        conversations (e.g., FIG. 7);    -   Create message icon 514 that when activated (e.g., by a finger        gesture on the icon) initiates transition to the users contact        list (e.g., FIG. 8A); and    -   Vertical bar 516 that helps a user understand what portion of        the list of instant message conversations is being displayed.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a process for displaying a list ofinstant message conversations on a portable electronic device's touchscreen in accordance with some embodiments. Upon detecting a fingergesture (1002) (e.g., a finger tap 412 on the IM icon 141, FIG. 4), theIM module 141 identifies a set of IM conversations (1004) and displaysthem on the touch screen (1006). To be able to edit an existingconversation or launch a new conversation, the portable device maydisplay an edit icon 512 and a create message icon 514, respectively, onthe touch screen (1008). The portable device monitors user contact withthe touch screen and acts accordingly (1010).

As shown in FIG. 5, the list of conversations may be displayed in achronological order. The conversation with “Jane Doe” is at the topbecause it is the only conversation that includes at least one messagegenerated today 508-1, which is assumed to be Jan. 29, 2006 in thisexample. In some embodiments, the conversations are ordered by thetimestamp of the most recent message in each conversation. In someembodiments, a conversation including at least one message that has notbeen checked by the user is highlighted in the touch screen. Forexample, the third conversation in the list is displayed using boldfacedcharacters to suggest that the user has not checked the recent messagesent by the person at the phone number 408-123-4567.

In some embodiments, the name 504 associated with an instant messageconversation is determined by finding an entry in the user's contactlist 137 that contains the phone number used by the instant messageconversation. If no such entry is found, then just the phone number isdisplayed (e.g., 504-3). In some embodiments, if the other person sendsmessages from two or more different phone numbers, the messages mayappear in the same conversation including the person's name if all thephone numbers used are found in the same entry (i.e., the entry for theother person) in the user's contact list 137. In some embodiments, theconversation includes messages sent from phone numbers and/or emailaddresses associated with the other person. In some embodiments, themessages sent by the other person include a first message sent from afirst address associated with the other person and a second message sentfrom a second address associated with the other person that is differentfrom the first address. In some embodiments, the first address is atelephone number and the second address is an email address. In someembodiments, the first and second addresses are two distinct telephonenumbers. In some embodiments, the first and second addresses are twodistinct email addresses.

In some other embodiments, if the other person sends messages from twoor more different phone numbers, the messages may appear in differentconversations corresponding to different numbers. The phone numbers orother identifiers are displayed next to the person's name to distinguishthese conversations from each other.

In some embodiments, the name field of an instant message conversationincludes names or other identifiers of multiple parties that participatein the conversation as message recipients and/or senders. If there is noroom for displaying all the names, a selected subset of names isdisplayed with a symbol like “ . . . ” at the end, indicating that thereare more parties in the conversation. By default, a message by the userof the portable electronic device is sent to all the parties of theconversation. For simplicity, the subsequent embodiments of IMconversations described here involve only two parties, the user andanother person. But one skilled in the art will appreciate that themethodologies described in the present invention are also applicable toan IM conversation involving more than two parties.

Automatically binning the instant messages into “conversations” (instantmessages exchanged between the user of the device and a respectiveperson or phone number) makes it easier for the user to carry on andkeep track of instant message exchanges with multiple parties. As willbe described below, the user is not only able to see the last messagesent by the other party, the user can also visit old messages exchangedbetween the user and the other party.

In some embodiments, vertical bar 516 is displayed temporarily after anobject is detected on or near the touch screen display (e.g., a fingertouch is detected anywhere on the list of instant messageconversations). In some embodiments, the vertical bar 516 has a verticalposition on top of the displayed portion of the list that corresponds tothe vertical position in the list of the displayed portion of the list.In some embodiments, the vertical bar 516 has a vertical length thatcorresponds to the portion of the list being displayed. In someembodiments, if the entire list of IM conversations can be displayedsimultaneously on the touch screen 112, the vertical bar 516 is notdisplayed. In some embodiments, if the entire list of IM conversationscan be displayed simultaneously on the touch screen 112, the verticalbar 516 is displayed with a length that corresponds to the length of thelist display area (e.g., as shown in FIG. 5).

As noted above, the portable device monitors (1010) user contact withthe conversation list. When the user swipes his finger or a stylus onthe touch screen in a substantially vertical direction (1012), this usercontact may be interpreted as a scrolling gesture. In some embodiments,the scrolling gesture is independent of the horizontal position of theuser contact with the touch screen display. In some embodiments, thescrolling gesture is substantially independent of the horizontalposition of the user contact with the touch screen display (e.g., one ormore side regions of the touch screen display may be reserved for otherfunctions, such as functions corresponding to icons, soft keys orapplication navigation functions, and not available for the scrollgesture). The portable electronic device, accordingly, scrolls theconversation list and displays a different portion of the conversationlist (1020).

As shown in FIG. 5, the conversation list moves in a directionconsistent with the scrolling gesture 516. If the scrolling gesture isdownward (or upward), the conversation list also moves downward (orupward). Scrolling the conversation list downward will typically scrollthe list to earlier entries in the list, until the first entry isreached (e.g., Jane Doe 504-1). But if the user does not have too manyIM conversations, the portable electronic device may display the entireconversation list and the scrolling gesture has no effect.

If the user taps on the edit icon 512 using his finger or stylus (1018),the portable electronic device replaces the conversation list UI with anew UI that allows the user to edit the conversations. A more detaileddescription of the conversation editing feature is provided below inconnection with FIGS. 7 and 16.

Similarly, if the user taps on the message creation icon 514 (1019), theportable electronic device replaces the conversation list UI with a newUI that allows the user to create a new instant message and therefore anew conversation. A more detailed description of this feature isprovided below in connection with FIGS. 8A-8B, 9 and 19.

If the user taps on a particular conversation in the list (1014), theportable electronic device would interpret the tap as a gestureindicating that the user intends to check the messages associated withthe user selected conversation. Accordingly, the portable electronicdevice replaces the conversation list UI shown in FIG. 5 with aconversation UI shown in FIG. 6A.

FIGS. 6A through 6K illustrate an exemplary user interface for inputtingtext for an instant message in accordance with some embodiments.

In some embodiments, user interface 600A (FIG. 6A) includes thefollowing elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   402, 404, and 406, as described above;    -   Name 504 corresponding to the phone number used in the instant        message conversation (or the phone number itself if the name is        not available);    -   Instant messages icon 602 that when activated (e.g., by a finger        gesture on the icon) initiates transition to a UI listing        instant message conversations (e.g., UI 500);    -   Instant messages 604 from the other party, typically listed in        order along one side of UI 600A;    -   Instant messages 606 to the other party, typically listed in        order along the opposite side of UI 600A to show the back and        forth interplay of messages in the conversation;    -   Timestamps 608 for at least some of the instant messages;    -   Text entry box 612;    -   Send icon 614 that when activated (e.g., by a finger gesture on        the icon) initiates sending of the message in text box 612 to        the other party (e.g., Jane Doe 504-1);    -   Letter keyboard 616 for entering text in box 612;    -   Alternate keyboard selector icon 618 that when activated (e.g.,        by a finger gesture on the icon) initiates the display of a        different keyboard (e.g., 624, FIG. 6C);    -   Send icon 620 that when activated (e.g., by a finger gesture on        the icon) initiates sending of the message in text box 612 to        the other party (e.g., Jane Doe 504-1);    -   Shift key 628 that when activated (e.g., by a finger gesture on        the icon) capitalizes the next letter chosen on letter keyboard        616; and    -   Vertical bar 630 that helps a user understand what portion of        the list of instant messages in an IM conversation is being        displayed.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a process for displaying a userselected instant message conversation upon detecting a predefined usercontact with the portable electronic device's touch screen in accordancewith some embodiments. In this example, the conversation with Jane Doeis displayed in response to a finger gesture 518 on the conversationwith Jane Doe (FIG. 5).

Upon detecting the user selection of the conversation with Jane Doe(1102), IM module 141 identifies a set of instant messages 604 & 606associated with the conversation (1104) and displays the instantmessages in a message display region of the touch screen in achronological order (1106). Because a user visiting an existingconversation may want to compose a new instant message to the otherperson, the portable electronic device also displays a message composeregion on the touch screen (1108). In some embodiments, the messagecompose region includes a text box 612 displaying characters entered bythe user, a send message icon 614, a letter keyboard 616, and a keyboardselector icon 618. The portable electronic device monitors the usercontact with the touch screen and responds accordingly (1110).

In some embodiments, the portable electronic device receives an instantmessage while the user of the device is using another application, e.g.,browsing a web page using the browser 147 or listening to music usingthe music player 146. In this case, the device may replace the userinterface of an on-going application with a new user interface on thetouch screen 112 or superimpose a new user interface on top of the userinterface for the on-going application. FIG. 21 illustrates an exemplaryuser interface for alerting a user to a new instant message inaccordance with some embodiments. This user interface may or may notsuspend or terminate the on-going application. For example, the user maystill listen to the music when this new user interface appears on thetouch screen 112. This may be true even if the user subsequently choosesto activate the IM module 141 and respond to the new message.

In some embodiments, the new user interface (e.g., UI2100, FIG. 21)includes the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   the name 2102 of the person sending the instant message (e.g.,        Jane Doe), which may be determined by matching the phone number        for the incoming instant message with a phone number in the        user's contacts 137;    -   the newly received instant message or a portion thereof 2104        (e.g., “Do U want 2 . . . ”    -   a first action icon 2106, e.g., “Ignore”; and    -   a second action icon 2108, e.g., “View.”        A user selection of the “Ignore” icon 2106 brings back the user        interface of the on-going application and the user can resume        the operation that was interrupted by the incoming message. A        user selection of the “View” icon 2108 may bypass the user        interface 500 and bring the user directly to the user interface        600A that includes the new instant message. The user can then        perform any message-related operations, as described below.

In some embodiments, the portable electronic device may receive aninstant message while it is in the lock mode. In this case, the devicemay include a visual alert indicating the arrival of the new message inthe user interface 300 and/or generate an audio alert through thedevice's speaker 111. If the user of the device unlocks the device'stouch screen 112 in response to the visual and/or audio alert, the usermay see user interface 600A (not user interface 400) on the touchscreen.

As shown in FIG. 6A, the instant messages 604 from Jane Doe may bedisplayed on the left side of the message display region with the mostrecent message (e.g., 604-2) towards the bottom. The messages sent bythe user to Jane Doe are on the opposite side of the display region. Themessages' relative vertical locations correspond to the order in whichthese messages are exchanged between the user of the device and JaneDoe. Selected timestamps 608 further indicate when these messages areexchanged. In some embodiments, a timestamp is displayed near themessage it is associated with. If the message display region does nothave enough room to display the timestamp of every message currently inthe message display region, the device may choose to display timestampsfor a subset of the messages, e.g., a timestamp 608-1 corresponding tothe message 604-1 at the top of the message region and a timestamp 608-2corresponding to the message 606-2 at the bottom of the message region.In some embodiments, the device may display more timestamps for messagesin the middle if, e.g., the time gap between the two messages is above apredefined threshold. From the instant messages, the user can easilycapture the topic of the conversation. If necessary, the user can browsethe other old messages not currently on display by applying a scrollinggesture 610 on the message display region (1112). In response, theportable electronic device scrolls the set of message conversations(1124). In some embodiments, the scrolling gesture is independent of thehorizontal position of the user contact with the touch screen display.In some embodiments, the scrolling gesture is substantially independentof the horizontal position of the user contact with the touch screendisplay, as described above.

In some embodiments, the device highlights certain portions of incomingand outgoing messages using, e.g., underlines, distinct font sizes orstyles, and/or colors. Typically, the highlighted portions are deemed tohave special connotations such as phone numbers, URLs, stock tickers, orcontacts' names. These highlighted message portions may beuser-selectable. For example, a user finger gesture on the highlightedportion “apple.com” of the message 604-2 causes the activation of thebrowser 147, which then brings up the home page of the websitewww.apple.com. Similarly, a user finger gesture on a telephone numberactivates the phone 138 and initiates a call to the telephone number.

In some embodiments, a vertically downward scrolling gesture scrolls theconversation downward, thereby showing older messages in theconversation. In some embodiments, a vertically upward scrolling gesturescrolls the conversation upward, thereby showing newer, more recentmessages in the conversation. In some embodiments, as noted above, thelast message in the conversation (e.g., 606-2) is displayed in the listof instant message conversations 500 (e.g., 506-1).

In some embodiments, vertical bar 630 is displayed temporarily after anobject is detected on or near the touch screen display (e.g., a fingertouch is detected anywhere on the list of instant messages). In someembodiments, the vertical bar 630 has a vertical position on top of thedisplayed portion of the list that corresponds to the vertical positionin the list of the displayed portion of the list. In some embodiments,the vertical bar 630 has a vertical length that corresponds to theportion of the list being displayed. For example, in FIG. 6A, thevertical position of the vertical bar 630 indicates that the bottom ofthe list of messages is being displayed (which correspond to the mostrecent messages) and the vertical length of the vertical bar 630indicates that roughly half of the messages in the conversation arebeing displayed.

In response to the user's finger gestures on different letter keys inthe keyboard (1114), a new instant message is composed in the text box612. A more detailed description of this composition process is providedbelow in connection with FIG. 12. In some embodiments, the keyboard 616in FIG. 6A has only 26 English characters due to the touch screen'slimited size. To enter characters such as digits, punctuation and otherspecial symbols, the user needs to tap on the keyboard selector icon 618(1120) and/or the shift key icon 628 (1116) to bring in additionalkeyboards or switch the existing keyboard to a different display mode(e.g., from upper/lower case to lower/upper case). More detaileddescriptions of these processes are provided below in connection withFIGS. 13 and 14, respectively. After completing the new message, theuser taps on the send message icon 614 or 620 to transmit the message tothe other participant of the conversation (1118). A more detaileddescription of the sending process is provided below in connection withFIG. 15.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a process for displaying auser-entered character and word suggestions, if any, in accordance withsome embodiments. Upon detecting a user selection of a letter key(1202), the portable electronic device displays the user-selected letterin the text box 612 (1204). To expedite the process of composing the newmessage, the portable electronic device may determine if it can offerany word suggestions based on the user input (1206). To do so, theportable electronic device may apply linguistics-based algorithms (e.g.,as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/549,624, titled“Method, System, and Graphical User Interface for Text Entry withPartial Word Display” filed Oct. 13, 2006, which is hereby incorporatedby reference in its entirety) to the user input and display one or morerelated words from its database (1208).

As shown in FIG. 6B, user interface 600B (FIG. 6B) includes thefollowing elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   402, 404, 406, 602, 604, 606, 608, 612, 614, 616, 618, and 620        as described above; and    -   word suggestion area 622 that provides a list of possible words        to complete the word fragment being typed by the user in text        box 612.

In this example, based on the user-entered string “vacat”, the portableelectronic device displays three possible words, “vacant”, “vacate”, and“vacation”, in the area 622. The user can choose any of them by fingertapping on a respective word icon. Alternatively, the user can ignoreall the computer-suggested words by tapping on the one exactly matchinghis input. In some embodiments, the portable electronic device alsosaves the user input as a new word in its database. Subsequently, whenthe user enters the same string or a subset thereof, the portableelectronic device may display this new word as one of the wordsuggestions. In some embodiments, the word suggestion area does notappear in UI 600B until after a predefined time delay (e.g., 2-3seconds) in text being entered by the user. In some embodiments, theword suggestion area is not used or can be turned off by the user.

If there is no suggestion by the portable electronic device or if theoption is turned off, the portable electronic device resumes monitoringthe user contact with the touch screen and acts accordingly (1210).

Additional description of providing word suggestions can be found inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/620,642, “Method, System, andGraphical User Interface for Providing Word Recommendations,” filed Jan.5, 2007, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

As noted above, the keyboard 616 may not include all the characters theuser would like to enter. There are different approaches to bringing inadditional characters. For example, as shown in FIG. 6B, the user cantap on the keyboard selector icon 618 to replace the current letterkeyboard 616 with a new keyboard that includes a different set ofcharacters such as digits and/or punctuation.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a process for displaying respectivekeyboards upon detecting a user contact with a keyboard selection iconin accordance with some embodiments. In response to a user selection ofthe keyboard selector 618 (1302), the portable electronic device checkswhat type of keyboard is requested (1304). Depending on the type of therequested keyboard, the portable electronic device displays a letterkeyboard (1308) or non-letter keyboard (1306). In some embodiments, themeaning of the user contact with the keyboard selector icon 618 dependson the keyboard's current display mode. Following the display of therequested keyboard, the portable electronic device then resumesmonitoring the user contact with the touch screen (1310).

As shown in FIG. 6C, after a user finger gesture on the keyboardselector icon 618 in FIG. 6B, a new user interface 600C is rendered onthe touch screen with the following elements, or a subset or supersetthereof:

-   -   402, 404, 406, 602, 604, 606, 608, 612, 614, 620, and 622 as        described above;    -   Alternate keyboard 624, which may be made up primarily of digits        and punctuation, with frequently used punctuation keys (e.g.,        period key 631, comma key 633, question mark key 635, and        exclamation point key 637) made larger than the other keys;    -   Letter keyboard selector icon 626 that when activated (e.g., by        a finger gesture on the icon) initiates the display of a letter        keyboard (e.g., 616, FIG. 6A); and    -   Shift key 628 that when activated (e.g., by a finger gesture on        the icon) initiates display of yet another keyboard (e.g., 639,        FIG. 6D).

Note that the non-letter keyboard selector 618 in FIG. 6B is nowreplaced with the letter keyboard selector 626 in FIG. 6C. In someembodiments, the period key 631 and the comma key 633 are located nearthe keyboard selector icon 626 to reduce the distance that a user'sfinger needs to travel to enter the oft-used period and comma.

But the alternate keyboard 624 may not be all-inclusive. For example, itmay not have any arithmetic operators such as “+”, “−”, “*”, or “/”. Afinger gesture on the keyboard selector 626 brings back the letterkeyboard 616, not any new keyboards. In some embodiments, the user maytap on another multi-function key, e.g., the shift key 628, to bring inadditional keyboards.

In some embodiments, like the keyboard selector icons (618, 626), theshift key 628 has different meanings in different contexts. FIG. 14 is aflowchart illustrating a process for interpreting the meaning of aparticular user contact with the shift key 628 in accordance with someembodiments. The portable electronic device detects user selection ofthe shift key (1402). The portable electronic device checks whatkeyboard is currently displayed on the touch screen (1404). If thecurrent one is a letter keyboard, a finger gesture on the shift keytriggers the portable electronic device to switch its display mode ofthe subsequent user-entered letters from uppercase to lowercase or viceversa (1406).

Referring back to FIG. 6B, in some embodiments, the portable electronicdevice, by default, only displays the first letter “h” of the first word“how” in uppercase. If the user wants to enter another uppercase letterin the same sentence, he can tap on the shift key 628. As a result, theshift key 628 is displayed in a visually different manner (e.g., with adifferent color or shading) after the finger gesture. In someembodiments, the shift key 628 returns to the lowercase mode after theuser enters the next letter in uppercase. If the user wants to enter asequence of uppercase letters, he can maintain the finger contact withthe shift key 628 for a predefined extended period of time (e.g., 1-3seconds) until the shift key 628 has a new appearance. In some otherembodiments, the shift key 628 stays in the uppercase mode for allsubsequent user-entered letters until another finger gesture is detectedon the shift key 628.

Returning now to FIG. 14, the user contact with the shift key 628 has adifferent meaning if the current keyboard is a non-letter keyboard(e.g., the alternate keyboard 624 in FIG. 6C). Because none of thecharacters in the keyboard 624 have two different display modes, theportable electronic device replaces the keyboard 624 with anothernon-letter keyboard 639 (1408) and then waits for the next user contactwith the touch screen (1410).

FIG. 6D is a screenshot of the corresponding user interface 600D, whichincludes the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   402, 404, 406, 602, 604, 606, 608, 612, 614, 620, 622, 626, 628        as described above; and    -   Another alternate keyboard 639, which may be made up primarily        of symbols and punctuation, with frequently used punctuation        keys (e.g., period key 631, comma key 633, question mark key        635, and exclamation point key 637) made larger than the other        keys.

Like the keyboard 624, none of the characters in the keyboard 639 havetwo different display modes. In some embodiments, the user can tap againon the shift key 628 to bring in more alternate keyboards with morespecial characters or symbols. In some embodiments, the user can tapagain on the shift key 628 to return to the alternate keyboard 624. Atany time, the user can also switch back to the letter keyboard bytapping on the keyboard selection icon 626.

Additional description of selecting soft keyboards can be found in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/553,431, “Method, System, and GraphicalUser Interface for Selecting a Soft Keyboard,” filed Oct. 26, 2006, thecontent of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

After completing a new message, the user sends the message by activating(e.g., with a finger gesture) the send message icon 614 or 620. FIG. 6Edepicts such a user interface 600E that includes the following elements,or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   402, 404, 406, 602, 604, 606, 608, 612, 614, 616, 618, and 620,        as described above; and    -   New instant message 606-3 sent to the other party.

In some embodiments, this user finger gesture triggers an animation ofthe new message moving from the text box 612 to the side of the messagedisplay region showing messages sent by the user of the device. Forexample, when the user activates a send key (e.g., either 614 or 620),the text in text box 612 “pops” or otherwise comes out of the box andbecomes part of the string of user messages 606 to the other party. Theblack arrows in FIG. 6E illustrate an animated formation of a quotebubble 606-3. In some embodiments, the size of the quote bubble scaleswith the size of the message. In some embodiments, a sound is also madewhen the message is sent, such as a droplet sound, to notify the user.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a process for sending an instantmessage to a respective recipient in accordance with some embodiments.In response to a user selection of the send message icon (1502), theportable electronic device checks if there is any user input in the textbox (1504). If not, it may simply ignore the user's finger gesture onthe send icon or display an error message on the touch screen (1508). Insome embodiments, the visual appearance of the send icon 614 is changed(e.g., dimmed) if there is no user input in the text box.

If there is any user input in the text box (1504, yes), the portableelectronic device may optionally conduct a spell check of the user input(1506). If there are any spelling errors (1506, yes), an error messageand/or word suggestions are displayed on the touch screen for the userto choose (1512). If there are no spelling errors, the portableelectronic device sends the message and may also animate the movement ofthe new message from the text box into the message display region(1514). The portable electronic device then monitors the user contactwith the touch screen (1516).

In some embodiments, keys in keyboards 616 (FIGS. 6A, 6B, 6E-6K), 624(FIG. 6C), and/or 639 (FIG. 6D) briefly change shape, shade and/or colorwhen touched/activated by a user to help the user learn to activate thedesired keys. In some embodiments, a user selection of any key on thetouch screen by a finger gesture is accompanied by a sound for the samepurpose. In some other embodiments, different sounds are associated withdifferent types of keystrokes to indicate what keys have been “pressed”by the user. In some embodiments, an outline or shaded areacorresponding to the user's finger contact is shown on the keyboard tohelp train the user.

In some embodiments, a user can delete an instant message from aconversation by finger tapping on the corresponding quote bubble in themessage display region. The portable electronic device, in response,grays out the bubble and pops up a small window on the touch screen. Thesmall window may include a “Yes” icon and a “No” icon. If the userre-affirms his decision of deleting the message by finger tapping on the“Yes” icon, the portable electronic device removes the bubble from themessage display region. But if the user chooses the “No” icon, the quotebubble resumes its normal appearance.

In some embodiments, user interface 600F (FIG. 6F) includes thefollowing elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   402, 404, 406, 612, 614, 616, 618, 620, and 628, as described        above;    -   Recipient input field 632 that when activated (e.g., by a finger        tap on the field) receives and displays the phone number of the        recipient of the instant message (or the recipient's name if the        recipient is already in the user's contact list);    -   Add recipient icon 634 that when activated (e.g., by a finger        tap on the icon) initiates the display of a scrollable list of        contacts (e.g., 638, FIG. 6G); and    -   Cancel icon 636 that when activated (e.g., by a finger tap on        the icon) cancels the new instant message.

In some embodiments, user interface 600G (FIG. 6G) includes thefollowing elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   402, 404, 406, 612, 614, 616, 618, 620, 628, 632, 634, and 636,        as described above;    -   Scrollable list 638 of contacts that match the input in        recipient input field 632; and    -   Vertical bar 640 that helps a user understand how many items in        the contact list that match the input in recipient input field        632 are being displayed.

In some embodiments, list 638 contains contacts that match the input inrecipient input field 632. For example, if the letter “v” is input, thencontacts with either a first name or last name beginning with “v” areshown. If the letters “va” are input in field 632, then the list ofcontacts is narrowed to contacts with either a first name or last namebeginning with “va”, and so on until one of the displayed contacts isselected (e.g., by a tap on a contact in the list 638).

In some embodiments, a user can scroll through the list 638 by applyinga vertical swipe gesture 642 to the area displaying the list 638. Insome embodiments, a vertically downward gesture scrolls the listdownward and a vertically upward gesture scrolls the list upward,

In some embodiments, vertical bar 640 is displayed temporarily after anobject is detected on or near the touch screen display (e.g., a fingertouch is detected anywhere on the list 638). In some embodiments, thevertical bar 640 has a vertical position on top of the displayed portionof the list that corresponds to the vertical position in the list of thedisplayed portion of the list. In some embodiments, the vertical bar 640has a vertical length that corresponds to the portion of the list beingdisplayed.

In some embodiments, user interfaces 600H (FIG. 6H) and 600I (FIG. 6I)include the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   402, 404, 406, 612, 614, 616, 618, 620, 628, 632, 634, and 636,        as described above;    -   Suggested word 644 adjacent to the word being input;    -   Suggested word 646 in the space bar in keyboard 616; and/or    -   Insertion marker 656 (e.g., a cursor, insertion bar, insertion        point, or pointer).

In some embodiments, activating suggested word 644 (e.g., by a fingertap on the suggested word) replaces the word being typed with thesuggested word 644. In some embodiments, activating suggested word 646(e.g., by a finger tap on the space bar) replaces the word being typedwith the suggested word 646. In some embodiments, a user can set whethersuggested words 644 and/or 646 are shown (e.g., by setting a userpreference).

In some embodiments, a letter is enlarged briefly after it is selected(e.g., “N” is enlarged briefly after typing “din” in FIG. 6H) to providefeedback to the user.

In some embodiments, user interfaces 600J (FIG. 6J) and 600K (FIG. 6K)include the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   402, 404, 406, 612, 614, 616, 618, 620, 628, 632, 634, 636, and        656 as described above; and    -   Expanded portion 650 of graphics that helps a user adjust the        position of an expanded insertion marker 657 (sometimes called        an “insertion point magnifier”);    -   Expanded insertion marker 657; and    -   Vertical bar 658 that indicates what portion of an instant        message including multiple lines of text is being displayed.

In some embodiments, a finger contact 648-1 on or near the insertionmarker 656 initiates the display of insertion point magnifier 650 andexpanded insertion marker 657-1. In some embodiments, as the fingercontact is moved on the touch screen (e.g., to position 648-2), there iscorresponding motion of the expanded insertion marker (e.g., to 657-2)and the insertion point magnifier 650. Thus, the insertion pointmagnifier 650 provides an efficient way to position a cursor or otherinsertion marker using finger input on the touch screen. In someembodiments, the magnifier 650 remains visible and can be repositionedas long as continuous contact is maintained with the touch screen (e.g.,from 648-1 to 648-2 to even 648-3).

In some embodiments, a portable electronic device displays graphics andan insertion marker (e.g., marker 656, FIG. 6I) at a first location inthe graphics on a touch screen display (e.g., FIG. 6I). In someembodiments, the insertion marker 656 is a cursor, insertion bar,insertion point, or pointer. In some embodiments, the graphics comprisetext (e.g., text in box 612, FIG. 6I).

A finger contact is detected with the touch screen display (e.g.,contact 648-1, FIG. 6I). In some embodiments, the location of the fingercontact is proximate to the location of the insertion marker. In someembodiments, the location of the finger contact is anywhere within atext entry area (e.g., box 612, FIG. 6I).

In response to the detected finger contact, the insertion marker isexpanded from a first size (e.g., marker 656, FIG. 6I) to a second size(e.g., marker 657-1, FIG. 6J) on the touch screen display, and a portion(e.g., portion 650-1, FIG. 6J) of the graphics on the touch screendisplay is expanded from an original size to an expanded size.

In some embodiments, the portion of the graphics that is expandedincludes the insertion marker and adjacent graphics. In someembodiments, after the insertion point and the portion of the graphicsare expanded, graphics are displayed that include the insertion markerand adjacent graphics at the original size and at the expanded size.

Movement of the finger contact is detected on the touch screen display(e.g., from 648-1 to 648-2, FIG. 6J).

The expanded insertion marker is moved in accordance with the detectedmovement of the finger contact from the first location (e.g., 657-1,FIG. 6J) to a second location in the graphics (e.g., 657-2, FIG. 6J).

In some embodiments, the portion of the graphics that is expandedchanges as the insertion marker moves from the first location to thesecond location (e.g., from 650-1 to 650-2, FIG. 6J). In someembodiments, the portion of the graphics that is expanded is displayedin a predefined shape. In some embodiments the portion (e.g., 650, FIG.6J) of the graphics that is expanded is displayed in a circle. In someembodiments, the expanded insertion marker 657 is within the circle.

In some embodiments, the detected movement of the finger contact has ahorizontal component on the touch screen display and a verticalcomponent on the touch screen display. In some embodiments, moving theexpanded insertion marker 657 in accordance with the detected movementof the finger contact includes moving the expanded insertion marker andthe expanded portion of the graphics in accordance with the horizontalcomponent of motion of the finger contact if the finger contact movesoutside a text entry area without breaking contact. For example, in FIG.6I, if the finger contact moves from 648-2 (inside the text entry area612) to 648-3 (in the keyboard area), the expanded insertion point 657and the expanded portion 650 of the graphics may move horizontally alongthe lower portion of the text entry area in accordance with thehorizontal component of the movement from 648-2 to 648-3 (not shown).

In some embodiments, moving the expanded insertion marker in accordancewith the detected movement of the finger contact includes moving theexpanded insertion marker in a first area of the touch screen thatincludes characters entered using a soft keyboard (e.g., text box 612,FIG. 6J), wherein the soft keyboard is located in a second area of thetouch screen that is separate from the first area (e.g., keyboard 616,FIG. 6J).

In some embodiments, the expanded insertion marker is contracted fromthe second size to the first size if finger contact with the touchscreen display is broken (e.g., insertion marker 656, FIG. 6K). In someembodiments, the contracting includes an animation of the expandedinsertion marker 657 shrinking into the insertion marker 656 at thesecond location.

In some embodiments, the expanded portion 650 of the graphics iscontracted if finger contact with the touch screen display is no longerdetected for a predetermined time.

A graphical user interface on a portable electronic device with a touchscreen display comprises an insertion marker and graphics. In responseto detecting a finger contact 648 with the touch screen display, theinsertion marker is expanded from a first size 656 to a second size 657,and a portion 650 of the graphics is expanded. In response to detectingmovement of the finger contact on the touch screen display, the expandedinsertion marker is moved in accordance with the detected movement ofthe finger contact from a first location 657-1 in the graphics to asecond location 657-2 in the graphics.

As noted above in connection with FIG. 6E, a user finger selection ofthe send key 614 triggers an animation of the message moving from thetext box 612 to the message display region. In some embodiments, priorto sending the message, the size of the text box expands as text isentered (e.g., from one line of text in FIG. 6H to two lines of text inFIG. 6I). In some embodiments, the text box 612 does not have enoughroom for displaying the entire message if it has too many lines of text(as indicated by the short vertical bar 658). When a quote bubblecontaining the multi-line message comes out of the text box 612, it maygradually grow its size until a predefined condition is met (e.g., thebubble has enough room to contain the entire message and/or the size ofthe bubble reaches a threshold that is statically or dynamicallydetermined by the device based on the number of existing messages in theconversation). For example, if the text box shows 3 lines of a 10 lineinstant message, then the quote bubble may grow from a 3 line quotebubble to a 10 line quote bubble during the animation that moves themessage from the text box 612 to the message display region.

Additional description of insertion marker positioning can be found inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/553,436, “Method, System, AndGraphical User Interface For Positioning An Insertion Marker In A TouchScreen Display,” filed Oct. 26, 2006, the content of which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

Besides deleting individual messages from a conversation, an entireconversation may be deleted via edit icon 512 in FIG. 5. FIG. 7illustrates an exemplary user interface for deleting an instant messageconversation in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments,user interface 700 includes the following elements, or a subset orsuperset thereof:

-   -   402, 404, 406, 504, 506, 508, 510, as described above;    -   Delete icons 702;    -   Remove icon 704; and    -   Done icon 706.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a process for displaying a list ofinstant message conversations for editing in accordance with someembodiments. Upon detecting a user selection of the edit icon 512(1602), the portable electronic device associates a delete icon 702 witheach conversation (1604) (e.g., a delete icon 702 appears next to eachconversation). Additionally, the portable electronic device may replacethe edit icon 512 with a done icon 706 (1606) and monitor user contactwith the touch screen (1608).

If the user swipes his finger or stylus on the touch screen in asubstantially vertical direction (1610), the portable electronic devicescrolls the conversation list (1616). If a user activates a delete icon(e.g., with a finger gesture), the portable electronic device continuesthe deletion process for the corresponding conversation. A more detaileddescription of an exemplary conversation removal process is providedbelow in connection with FIGS. 17 and 18. But if the user touches thedone icon, the portable electronic device removes all the delete icons702 from the touch screen and brings back the conversation list UI asshown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a process for editing a userselected instant message conversation in accordance with someembodiments. Upon detecting a user selection of the delete iconassociated with a conversation (1702), the portable electronic devicechanges the delete icon's appearance (e.g., rotating the selected deleteicon 702-4, FIG. 7, by 90 degrees) (1704). The portable electronicdevice associates a confirmation icon (e.g., remove icon 704) with theselected conversation (1706). In some embodiments, during the editingprocess, at most one confirmation icon at a time is displayed on thetouch screen. Depending on the next user contact with the touch screen(1708), the portable electronic device may perform different operationsto the conversation list. For example, the device may scroll the listup/down in response to a scrolling gesture by the user (1710, 1718). Thedevice may bring back the conversation list UI in response to a fingergesture on the done icon (1714).

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating a process for removing a userselected instant message conversation or exiting a conversation editmode in accordance with some embodiments. If the user selects theconfirmation icon (1712, 1802), the portable electronic device removesthe conversation from the touch screen (1804). If the removedconversation is not the last one in the list, the portable electronicdevice may shift other conversations upward to fill the space left bythe removed conversation (1806). A finger gesture on the modified deleteicon 702-4 or, in some embodiments, anywhere on the touch screen besidesthe confirmation icon 704 (1716, 1803) indicates that the user decidesnot to delete the conversation. Accordingly, the portable electronicdevice changes the delete icon back to its original appearance (1805)and removes the confirmation icon from the touch screen (1807).

Following the operation 1806 or 1807, the portable electronic deviceresumes monitoring the user contact with the touch screen (1808). Forexample, the user may activate the done icon 706 (1814) by tapping on itwith a finger when the user has finished deleting IM conversations andthe device returns to UI 500. The user may delete another conversationby activating its associated delete icon (1812). If there is a long listof conversations that fill more than the screen area, the user mayscroll through the list using vertically upward and/or verticallydownward gestures 708 on the touch screen (1810, 1816).

This conversation removal process, which requires multiple gestures bythe user on different parts of the touch screen (e.g., delete icon 702-4and confirmation icon 704 are on opposite sides of the touch screen) canreduce the chance that a user accidentally deletes a conversation orother similar item.

Referring again to FIG. 5, a user may start a new conversation withanother person by activating the message creation icon 514 (e.g., with afinger tap or other gesture). FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating aprocess for displaying a list of contacts from which a user chooses tosend an instant message in accordance with some embodiments. Afterdetecting the user selection of the message creation icon (1902), theportable electronic device identifies a set of contacts from the user'saddress book or the equivalent because it does not know to whom this newconversation is directed (1904). Next, the portable electronic devicedisplays the identified contacts on the touch screen (1908). In someembodiments, the portable electronic device displays multiple icons onthe touch screen in addition to the contact list (1909), such as thegroup contacts icon, the first name and last name icons, the alphabetlist icons, the cancel icon, and the other number icon. A more detaileddescription of these icons is provided below in connection with FIGS. 8Aand 8B. After rendering the contact list and the additional icons, theportable electronic device then monitors the user contact with the touchscreen (1910).

FIGS. 8A & 8B illustrate an exemplary user interface for a contact listin accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, userinterfaces 800A and 800B include the following elements, or a subset orsuperset thereof:

-   -   402, 404, 406, as described above;    -   Groups icon 802 that when activated (e.g., by a finger gesture        on the icon) initiates display of groups of contacts;    -   First name icon 804 that when activated (e.g., by a finger        gesture on the icon) initiates an alphabetical display of the        user's contacts by their first names (FIG. 8B);    -   Last name icon 806 that when activated (e.g., by a finger        gesture on the icon) initiates an alphabetical display of the        user's contacts by their last names (FIG. 8A);    -   Alphabet list icons 808 that the user can touch to quickly        arrive at a particular first letter in the displayed contact        list;    -   Cancel icon 810 that when activated (e.g., by a finger gesture        on the icon) initiates transfer back to the previous UI (e.g.,        UI 500); and    -   Other number icon 812 that when activated (e.g., by a finger        gesture on the icon) initiates transfer to a UI for entering a        phone number for instant messaging, such as a phone number that        is not in the user's contact list (e.g., UI 900, FIG. 9).

As described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/322,547, “ScrollingList With Floating Adjacent Index Symbols,” filed Dec. 23, 2005, whichis hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, the user may scrollthrough the contact list using vertically upward and/or verticallydownward gestures 814 on the touch screen.

If the next user contact is such a scrolling gesture 814 (1912) or afinger gesture on one of the first name icon 804, the second name icon806 and the alphabet list icons 808 (1914), the portable electronicdevice modifies the contacts currently on display (1920). Although thecontact list may be shared by multiple applications on the same portabledevice (e.g., email, phone, and instant messaging), a user selection ofa name in the contact list in this context will be used for IM servicebecause the contact list was requested from within the IM application.Here the contact list is being shown in connection with user activationof the message creation icon 514 in the IM application 141.

If the portable electronic device detects a finger gesture on oneperson's name or other identifier in the contact list (1916), theportable electronic device displays a message compose region for amessage to the selected contact (1108, FIG. 11) and displays aconversation UI as shown in FIG. 6A. In some embodiments, if there is anexisting conversation between the user and the selected person, theportable electronic device merges the new conversation into the existingone by displaying messages associated with the existing conversation.

If the portable electronic device detects a user gesture on the cancelicon 810 (1918), the portable electronic device aborts the process ofcreating the new conversation and brings back the conversation listshown in FIG. 5 (1006, FIG. 10).

If the portable electronic device detects a finger gesture on the othernumber icon 812 (1919), typically a new conversation with a person notin the contact list is initiated. Accordingly, the portable electronicdevice may render a new user interface for the user to enter theperson's contact information that is going to be used by the newconversation.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating a process for launching a newconversation using a new phone number in accordance with someembodiments. Upon detecting user selection of the other number icon(2002), the portable electronic device provides a contact informationdisplay region (2004) and a contact information compose region (2006) onthe touch screen. The contact information may be a phone number or anemail address for IM service. The contact information display regionincludes a text box 906 for displaying the user-entered contactinformation. The contact information compose region includes a keyboard624 for the user to enter such contact information. If the useractivates the cancel icon (2012), the portable electronic device abortsthe process of creating a new conversation and returns to theconversation list UI shown in FIG. 5. If the user input is a letter ornumber (2010), the portable electronic device displays it in the textbox (2014).

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary user interface for entering a phonenumber for instant messaging in accordance with some embodiments. Insome embodiments, user interface 900 includes the following elements, ora subset or superset thereof:

-   -   402, 404, 406, 602, and 624, as described above;    -   Cancel icon 902 that when activated (e.g., by a finger gesture        on the icon) initiates transfer back to the previous UI (e.g.,        UI 800A or UI 800B);    -   Save icon 904 that when activated (e.g., by a finger gesture on        the icon) initiates saving the entered phone number in the        instant messages conversation list (e.g., UI 500) and displaying        a UI to compose an instant message to be sent to the entered        phone number (e.g., UI 600A); and    -   Number entry box 906 for entering the phone number using        keyboard 624.

Note that the keyboard displayed may depend on the application context.For example, the UI displays a soft keyboard with numbers (e.g., 624)when numeric input is needed or expected. The UI displays a softkeyboard with letters (e.g., 616) when letter input is needed orexpected.

The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has beendescribed with reference to specific embodiments. However, theillustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or tolimit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modificationsand variations are possible in view of the above teachings. Theembodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and its practical applications, to therebyenable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention andvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

1. (canceled)
 2. An electronic device, comprising: a touch screendisplay; one or more processors; and memory storing one or more programsconfigured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or moreprograms including instructions for: displaying a set of messagesexchanged between a user of the device and another person in achronological order; detecting a scrolling gesture comprising asubstantially vertical movement of a user contact with the touch screendisplay, wherein the detecting of the scrolling gesture issubstantially, independent of a horizontal position of the user contactwith the touch screen display; and responding to the scrolling gestureby scrolling the display of the set of messages in accordance with adirection of the scrolling gesture; further comprising: concurrentlydisplaying: the set of messages exchanged between the user and the otherperson in a message display region; and a text box and a first set ofkeys in a message compose region; while concurrently displaying the setof messages, text box and first set of keys, detecting a user selectionof one or more of the first set of keys; in response to detecting a userselection of one or more of the first set of keys: displaying a wordfragment in the text box in accordance with text entered by the user;and displaying one or more text entry suggestions in the message composeregion in accordance with the text entered by the user, wherein the oneor more text entry suggestions represent a respective completion of theword fragment; and upon detecting a predefined user gesturecorresponding to a respective text entry suggestion of the one or moretext entry suggestions, replacing the word fragment in the text box withthe respective text entry suggestion.
 3. The electronic device of claim2, the one or more programs further including instructions for:displaying one or more timestamps adjacent one or more of the set ofmessages.
 4. The electronic device of claim 2, the one or more programsfurther including instructions for: displaying the set of messages sentby the user to the other person in a first color; and displaying the setof messages sent by the other person to the user in a second color, thesecond color different from the first color.
 5. The electronic device ofclaim 2, the one or more programs further including instructions for:visually animating movement of a newly sent message, from the user tothe other person, from a message compose region of the touch screendisplay to a message display region of the touch screen display.
 6. Theelectronic device of claim 2, the one or more programs further includinginstructions for: displaying a symbol in the text box upon detecting auser contact with one of the first set of keys.
 7. The electronic deviceof claim 2, the one or more programs further including instructions for:replacing at least a subset of the first set of keys with a second setof keys upon detecting a user contact with one of the first set of keys.8. The electronic device of claim 2, wherein the set of messages areinstant messages.
 9. The electronic device of claim 2, the one or moreprograms further including instructions for: displaying a list ofconversations, each conversation including a set of messages exchangedbetween a user of the device and a respective other person; detectinganother scrolling gesture comprising a substantially vertical movementof a user contact with the touch screen display; and responding to theanother scrolling gesture by scrolling the list of conversations inaccordance with a direction of the another scrolling gesture, whereinthe another scrolling gesture is substantially independent of ahorizontal position of the user contact with the touch screen display,wherein the step of displaying the set of messages in chronologicalorder is in response to detection of a selection gesture on a particularmessage conversation in the list of message conversations.
 10. Theelectronic device of claim 2, wherein the one or more text entrysuggestions are displayed in a word suggestion area in the messagecompose region at a location between the text box and the first set ofkeys; and wherein the display of the one or more text entry suggestionsin the word suggestion area occupies a portion of the display that wasoccupied by the message display region prior to displaying the wordsuggestion area.
 11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumstoring one or more programs configured to be executed by one or moreprocessors of an electronic device with a touch screen display, the oneor more programs including instructions for: displaying a set ofmessages exchanged between a user of the device and another person in achronological order; detecting a scrolling gesture comprising asubstantially vertical movement of a user contact with the touch screendisplay, wherein the detecting of the scrolling gesture is substantiallyindependent of a horizontal position of the user contact with the touchscreen display; and responding to the scrolling gesture by scrolling thedisplay of the set of messages in accordance with a direction of thescrolling gesture; further comprising: concurrently displaying: the setof messages exchanged between the user and the other person in a messagedisplay region; and a text box and a first set of keys in a messagecompose region; while concurrently displaying the set of messages, textbox and first set of keys, detecting a user selection of one or more ofthe first set of keys; in response to detecting a user selection of oneor more of the first set of keys: displaying a word fragment in the textbox in accordance with text entered by the user; and displaying one ormore text entry suggestions in the message compose region in accordancewith the text entered by the user, wherein the one or more text entrysuggestions represent a respective completion of the word fragment; andupon detecting a predefined user gesture corresponding to a respectivetext entry suggestion of the one or more text entry suggestions,replacing the word fragment in the text box with the respective textentry suggestion.
 12. A method, comprising: at an electronic device witha touch screen display: displaying a set of messages exchanged between auser of the device and another person in a chronological order;detecting a scrolling gesture comprising a substantially verticalmovement of a user contact with the touch screen display, wherein thedetecting of the scrolling gesture is substantially independent of ahorizontal position of the user contact with the touch screen display;and responding to the scrolling gesture by scrolling the display of theset of messages in accordance with a direction of the scrolling gesture,further comprising: concurrently displaying: the set of messagesexchanged between the user and the other person in a message displayregion; and a text box and a first set of keys in a message composeregion; while concurrently displaying the set of messages, text box andfirst set of keys, detecting a user selection of one or more of thefirst set of keys; in response to detecting a user selection of one ormore of the first set of keys: displaying a word fragment in the textbox in accordance with text entered by the user; and displaying one ormore text entry suggestions in the message compose region in accordancewith the text entered by the user, wherein the one or more text entrysuggestions represent a respective completion of the word fragment; andupon detecting a predefined user gesture corresponding to a respectivetext entry suggestion of the one or more text entry suggestions,replacing the word fragment in the text box with the respective textentry suggestion.